“For Hombro a Hombro it is quite a challenge to promote a culture of preparation for earthquakes, and this is a great opportunity to reach a broad and vulnerable population. An earthquake can happen at any time, when schoolchildren are in their educational center or at home, and they must be prepared to know what to do before, during and following a large earthquake”, said Juan Manuel Arribas, Executive Director of Shoulder to Shoulder.
The force of the volcanic eruption in the archipelago of the Tonga islands, which occurred on January 15, far exceeded the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima (Japan).
According to NASA’s Earth Observatory, the volcano Southern-Ha’apai people released a smoke mushroom that reached a height of 40 km following its eruption, which was heard as far away as Alaska, more than 9,000 km away, and caused a tsunami.
The Nasa stated that this eruption it was several hundred times more powerful than the US atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, in August 1945, which was estimated at 15 kt (one kiloton equals 1,000 tons) of TNT.
“We calculated that the amount of energy released by the eruption was equivalent to between 5 and 30 mt (one megaton = 1,000 kt)”, said NASA scientist Jim Garvin, in a publication released this Sunday night.
The agency said the eruption “annihilated” the volcanic island located 65 km north of the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa.
Something so far “never experienced”
The natural catastrophe covered the island kingdom with a layer of toxic ash, with a population of regarding 100,000 people. polluting drinking water, destroying agricultural crops and completely razing at least two villages.
Claimed at least three lives in Tonga and caused two bathers to drown in Peru, whose shores were lashed by waves of a tsunami to exceptional height caused by the eruption.
The Peruvian authorities They announced an “environmental emergency” of 90 days in the coastal area, damaged by a spill of 6,000 barrels of crude a week ago, that continues to expand and contaminate the region to the despair of its inhabitants.
In Tonga, the magnitude of the damage is still uncertain, among other reasons, because communications continue to be interrupted. Its impact “far exceeded anything else that people here have experienced”Nuku’alofa resident journalist Mary Lyn Fonua told AFP.
“The shock wave of the eruption shook our brains”, he stated, adding that the layer of very fine grayish ash that covers everything makes life difficult for the inhabitants.
“It seeps everywhere (…), it irritates the eyes, it produces sores at the corner of the mouth, everyone has blackened fingernails. We look like a bunch of filthy people,” he said.
defense forces of JapanNew Zealanders and Australians are providing emergency aid, including clean water, while maintaining strict COVID-19 protocols to preserve the archipelago from the pandemic.
The Tsunami Warning Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources, relying on the global real-time tsunami monitoring network, obtained the real-time information of the tsunami caused by the volcanic eruption. Judging from the scope and intensity of the impact, the tsunami is a medium-intensity transoceanic tsunami.
According to the latest monitoring results, the Tsunami Warning Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources analyzed that the volcanic eruption triggered a transoceanic tsunami that affected the entire Pacific coast. Countries such as Chile, Japan and New Zealand on the Pacific coast have observed significant tsunami waves, with the maximum tsunami wave amplitude reaching 1.5 meters. Tsunami waves were detected in the coastal waters of my country in the early morning of the 16th. Among them, the largest tsunami wave at the Shipu Station in Zhejiang was regarding 20 cm, and the tsunami wave at the other tidal stations were all less than 15 cm. This process did not cause catastrophic impact on my country’s coast.
Relevant experts from the Tsunami Warning Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources analyzed that the impact of this process on my country’s coast is relatively small, mainly because the coast of my country’s mainland is blocked by the Ryukyu Islands and Southeast Asian countries, coupled with the protection of the broad continental shelf, following the transoceanic tsunami enters this sea area. , the energy is attenuated to a greater extent, so the impact on the continental coast is small.
Wang Peitao, associate researcher at the Tsunami Warning Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources:Volcanic eruption is a continuous process, but triggering tsunamis often requires a strong eruption time. Therefore, whether the follow-up can have a sustained impact on our country mainly depends on the intensity of future volcanic eruptions. Judging from the current observation data, the tsunami caused by the strong volcanic eruption is gradually weakening, and the water level along the coast is gradually returning to normal.
After the eruption of the Hongahaapai Island volcano in the Tonga sea, the Chinese satellite obtained remote sensing images of a large number of volcanic pumice in the Tonga sea. From the latest remote sensing image of Gaofen-1B satellite released by the National Satellite Ocean Application Center of the Ministry of Natural Resources, it can be seen that there are a large number of red and brown pumice stones floating in the sea area for tens of kilometers around Hongaha Apay Island, and their shapes are dotted. Shape or strip, strip length from a few meters to more than 10 kilometers.
Pumice is formed by the contact of volcanic lava and seawater. Its main component is usually silica, which is soft in texture and small in specific gravity. It gathers together under the action of waves to form a large area of pumice. Experts from the National Satellite Marine Application Center analyzed that a large number of volcanic pumice stones will not only affect the navigation of ships, but also fish resources in the sea will die due to accidentally swallowing the pumice stones, causing ecological concerns.
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Tonga confirmed on Tuesday its first death from the eruption of an underwater volcano on Saturday, one of the most violent in the last 30 years in the world and which was followed by a tsunami, amid difficulties in assessing the damage in that remote island nation in the South Pacific.
Tonga’s high commissioner in Canberra, Curtis Tu’ihalangingie, told the Australian public broadcaster ABC that “unfortunately” the authorities of the Pacific nation have received information of the death of a person, noting that “there are possibilities that register more”.
The diplomat pointed out that the Australian and New Zealand planes, as well as the Tongan Navy, are trying to assess the damage caused by the eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai in the 169-island archipelago, while the emergency services are engaged in emergency tasks. .
The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported the day before in a statement that there is “significant” damage, as well as minor injuries and two missing persons, in addition to extensive damage to homes and beach resorts in Tongatapu.
The OCHA also highlighted that there is still no contact with the inhabitants of the Ha’pai archipelago, specifying that the concerns are mainly focused on Mango and Fonoi, two islands that are at sea level.
With the nation covered in volcanic ash, according to aerial images, the task of assessing the damage is made difficult because “communications are poor” since only local or international satellite calls can be made.
It is expected that soon there will be a panorama of the devastation, as well as the humanitarian aid needs for this island country that only has one confirmed case of covid-19, for which the protocols will also have to be strictly followed to avoid a “covid tsunami,” Tu’ihalangingie noted.
The New Zealand High Commission in Tonga said in a statement Monday that there are reports of “significant damage” on the west coast of Tongatapu, the country’s main island, including the coastal area with hotels in the capital, Nuku’alofa.
The Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai, located 65 kilometers north of the Tongan capital, released steam and ash regarding 20 kilometers high on Saturday and created a tsunami, which damaged the submarine cable that carries the internet connection from Fiji. .
The thunderous eruption of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai, an underwater volcano with a long history of activity and located between two islets – which are sometimes joined by lava and ash accumulated between them – might be heard hundreds of kilometers away.
While the Red Cross estimates that some 80,000 of the 105,000 inhabitants have been affected by these natural disasters, experts do not rule out other incidents of volcanic activity.
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